Vocal automobile-signal.



A.. w. WASHBUHN & c. lD. KEELER. VOCAL AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL.

- A I APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7. 19H. 1,177,978, Patented Apr. 4, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. w. WASHBURN & c. D. KEELER.

Y vocAL AuroMoslLE SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED MR. 7, 19H.

Patented Apr. LL, 1916,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

:summers witnesses I l www ARTHUR W'. WASHBURN, or mnMPHIs'TnNNEssEE; AND CHARLES D vocal.' AUroMoniLE-SIGNAL. i

Liemers.,

1'0 ad whom lit may concern Beit known that We, ARTHUR W. WASH BURN and CHARLES D. Kunnen, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at

Memphis, in the county of Shelby and Statev of Tennessee,

have invented new and useful Improvements producing audible signals and especially de-l l To provide for the ,accurateradjustment of in Vocal Automobile-Signals,'of which the following is a. specification. Our' intention relates to apparatus 'for signed to be mounted upon automobiles.

Various" devices are in common use such as horns, gongs and whistles for the purpose of giving a' warning'note or signal toannouncethe approachv of a vehicle.A Some of these are musical and others are decidedly discordant, while many are shrill or start-v ling and cause much annoyance ,to all but the occupants of the vehicle. These sounds may not only be of any desired character,

:from amusical standpoint, but conveys an inherent meaning in the vocal warning of danger transmitted or spoken, thus performing a uncti on which cannot be embodied in a mere audible signal. .l n

Our invention will be clearly understood from' the followingv description in connec drawings in' I to vibrate with greater force whichfwill produce a greater volume and more `d'istin'cti Aness of-sound. It is obvious, howeventhat tion with the accompanying which,

Figure 1,; is a of the reproducer; `and Fig. 7, is a sectionaly view of a modified iorm of a portion of the winding mechanism.

The casing of the. signal apparatus may be mounted upon in convenient reach of the hand or oot'of the chauffeur or other occupant.. The warning signal issues from the horn or trumpet 4, which'is connected with the reproducer.v

Specification of Letters Patent.4 Application led March 7, 1911. Serial No. 612,745;

and at Perthshire, in the county of Bolivar and State of Mississ1pp1,

are meaningless and* serve merely as 'warn-- ving noises. i

side elevation ofthe forward portion of an automobile showing our audible signal apparatus mounted upon the running board; Fig. 2, is a side elevation vci the" apparatus with the side of the conthe running board of an automobile where 'the handle 2 will be Withattached to shell 29, of the rep Patented Apr. d,

It is essential that the phonographic' ap`" paratus should `be shielded Vfrom the'jars and vibrations of the automobile body and i'En STATES PA FIE? I if' ."kEELEmor We, therefore, provide means for abolishing all shocks by mounting the apparatus with'- 1n the `caslng between cushioning devices.

Springs 7 p. and 8, absorb the vibratio'ns'm "a" vertical direction while springs Qprevent i lateral vlbrations. Tor furtherinsure an ab;

sence of vibration. in the reproducer, we may' -insert a pneumatlc cushion 1.0, betweenrthe baseor platform 12, and the lower'springs'.

the tension of 'the cushioning devices, the

may be' raised or lowered byk means -of nuts 15. f

The actuatingrecord is preferably carried upon the inside of arecordjcylinder 17,

mounted in a vrotary spider lv8,"vvh-ichf may'l i be rotated by any suitable'motor device. ."Inasmuch as the `same signal is ,constantly` re-v peated, the needle20 of the reproducer fol.-

lows the same actuating indentationsofqthe record and there is no relative longitudinal movement between -the l record' cylinder and the needle, so' that the necl'essitylforA the usual -feed mechanism is obviated. By causing the Y needle to traverse a concave record up'ntlie inner surface of a cylinder instead of a con y vex outer surface it will be apparent that] the needle will come more' perfectly into con-I. f

tact withthe indentations and will be caused- Fig. 4.. lThe -upper- Wallof the 4reproducer or diaphragm chamber 22, -issemi-elliptical which is better adapted-thans semi-circular form to the production and propagationvof i the acoustical `or, sound waves.- -The .dia-

phr-'agm 23,- isheld'by ythe clamping ring 2.4.. i

For the purpose of adjusting the tension upon the 'diaphragm to ytune it to the voice making the record land to. vary the amplij i tude of vibration' to produce the maximum y effect of sound and clearness, -tension 'wires 25 are attached tothe eentraljcapfQ'?, by

phragm. If the tension wires were4 `lois f V which the needle 28is secured to the' diga-1r.. t

`the diaphragm would be deprivedot' that iiexibility or resilience so necessary for the propagation of vocal waves; anda'ccord- V:mglywe secure the end of each wire 25,`to

a washer 30, bearing upon a spring 31, within a hollow screw 34. It will be seen'that while the tension, upon the diaphragm may A through openings in adjusting screws 37 and are headed o'r upset against the outer"J ends thereof' so .that the screws can be turned 'without' twisting .the wires. ,Now by means of the adjusting screws 34 and` 37,' the diaphragm and sonorous wires 35, can be tunedV to vibrate in harmony or synchroni'sm. l Thev rhythm: of -vibrations between `diaphragm and sonorous wires results in 4augmenting the naturall vibrations produced by the needle and-adding greatly, not only to the 'volume 'of sound. but also to the clearness j through the tube 38, to the horn 4, and in orand distinctn'ess of the vocalpexpressions.

Theytracng point of the needle may be madeof a filament of glass pressed into the end of the needle. The sound isgconveyed der that any jar or vibrations from the horn,

may not be transmitted to the tube, a section of rubber tubing 39 is interposed. The soundbox `may be supported by.a hinged bracket 43 attached to the frame. We have shown forpurposes of illustra- '40 tion a spring-motor device to rotate the record cylinder, although it is obvious that an electric motor or other motor element may be employed. The spider 18, carrying the record- Wcylinder, is mounted in the plate or frame .45140, an'd"carries 21 Pulley 41 belted to the drive-wvheel 42, which is connected by means voflpi7nirn44 and gear 45 to the spring barre 4 i yForthe purpose of placing vthe spring within the barrel 47, underV tension, we

provide'ia winding mechanism operated by.`

the handle 2. The stem 2l is spirally grroved and engages a pin 48 in tlu` sleeve 49, secured to the bevel gear 50, in mesh with the pinion 51, which is sleevedupon the main spring shaft 52. When the handle 2 is pressed down, the gear 50 and pinion 51 will rotate the shaft 52 and wind the main spring, but upon releasing the handle, thc stem 2a will be raised bv the spiral spring 54, the spring 55 permitting the pinion 51 to lvield as the teeth on the outer end oi the sleeve glide over the teeth of the ratchet of the spring barrel 'carries a ratchet 60,

cap 58 on the cud of the shaft The shaft` lwhich is engaged by the pivoted pawl 61, i

held in engagement therewith by the sprmg 6210 regulate the speed of rotatiouof the barrel and operating mechanism connected therewith.

Instead of using a ratchet clutch between 'the'leevel gears and the sh'aft of the winding drum as above described, we may fastenthe U pinion 51 rigidlyT to the shaft 52, thereby f dispensing with the spring and clutch 58.

Inthis case we provide the frame with ai depending sleeve 49 integral with the gear 50 and surrounding the sleeve 49 in the manner shown in F ig. 7. The sleeve 49 inthis case is constructed t0 be free from the gear 50, and may be provided with projecting teeth or lugs 50 which are adapted to enter depressions or sockets 50bin the upper edge of the sleeve 49a to lock the parts together. When the stem 2'* is depressed, the sleeves 49 and 49 will be lockedtogether, but upon the reverse movement of the stem the sleeve 48 will be lifted slightly and disengaged from the sleeve 49, so that it will be free.

to revolve without affecting the gear. It is obvious that other changes may be made and that'different devices may be employed to actuate the winding drum.

The operation of the mechanism will be understood from the foregoing description. When the handle 2 is pressed down, the main spring will be 4wound and will immediately s'et the record cylinder in operation through the gears and belt pulleys and cause the phonographic reproducer to send out the vocal warning signal such, for instance, as-danger-look out-automobile coming, or any other appropriate signal which has beenrecorded upon the cylinder. The signal will be repeated a number of times for each' winding of the spring, and unless a speed regulator is attached, the rotary speed of the mechanism will increase rapidly at first and thenv diminish, thus enhancing the alarming nature of the signal.

Our invention will -now'be appreciated 1 by reason of the several` features which rcnder it of especial value as 'awarning signal. The vocal warning cry appeals not only to the hearing but instantly to the reason of the'pcdestrian, while the repetition of the warning call with varying speed causes a `startling elicct which is most effective. ln

addition to this, the increased volume and distinetness of the sound waves produced in the sound box by the harmonic vibrations of the sonorous wires, together with the shook-absorbing media which protect the reproducing' mechanism i' rom external shocks, render our apparatusmost cll'ective for the purposes described.`

lVhile we have described in detail the mechanism disclosed in the drawings for the purpose of showing an embodiment oi our invention, it will be obvious, as pre- 1,177,978 e A y v'iously pointed out, lthat many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of our-invention, and such changes will be within the scope of oiirclainis, which are:- d

l. A signal device for automobiles', 'comprisingl a casing, a phonographic reproducer and operating' mechanism therefor within said casing, shock-absorbing media interposed between said reprodueer and operating mechanism and the walls of said casings said mediabeing maintained normallyy under compression, socket plates interposed between said media. and-the casing'above said reproducer and mechanism. and adjusting devices koperatively connected to said plates.

2. signal'device for automobiles. comprising a casing, a phonographic rcproducei and operating mechanism therefor within said easing1 a cushioning support constituting an undeibaseupon which said reprodncei and saidmechanism are mounted. springs interposed between said under-base and the lower wall of the casing. springs i located above said meclianisni acting in opposition to said first-named springs. andA shock-absorbing media interposed between other walls of said casing and -the reproducei` and said mechanism.

3. A signal device for automobiles. coin- -pi'ising aecasing', a plionogiaphic reproducei and operating mechanism Ytherefor withinsaid casing, shock-absorbing devices inten..

posed between said reproduce'r and operatine mechanism and said casing, said devices 'being maintained normally under compres sion, there beingr corresponding ,devices above and below. the said reprodueei` and mechanism, and means for adjusting thc amount ofcompression upon sa'id devices.

4. A signal device for vehicles comprising' a polygonal easing-a phonographic sound producer therein, actuating mechanism therefor, andY shock ahem-bineV means interposed between said sound producerl and each side of the casing.

ln testimony whe-reoic we have hereunto sct oni' hands in presence of two subscribingr witnesses. p

AR'lllYR lV. WAFUBURN. CHARLES D. Kllllill.

'itnesses Y A .M. A. Fem). 

